Ryan Murphy: Cory Monteith ‘Glee’ Tribute Had Cast & Crew ‘Sobbing’

We’ve been trying to mentally prepare ourselves for the ‘Glee’ tribute episode for Cory Monteith. After seeing the emotional promo on Oct. 3, we can only imagine how difficult it was to film, and Ryan Murphy is explaining that we, as viewers, have no idea how difficult it was.

On Oct. 10, fans have to say a final goodbye to Cory Monteith‘s character, Finn Hudson on Glee‘s tribute episode. Show creator Ryan Murphyrevealed on Oct. 3 that he’s never seen anything like the struggle that took place during filming.

‘Glee’ Cory Monteith Tribute: It Was ‘Incredibly Difficult To Work’ On

Answering questions after an event for his other show, American Horror Story: The Coven, Ryan got personal with reporters, revealing that nothing about filming the episode was easy.

“The episode is called ‘The Quarterback,’ and Cory really was that to that group of people — and to me particularly,” Ryan said. “That group of kids particularly went through the limelight and became world famous at a very difficult age, and many of them really struggled with it.”

Cory passed away on July 13, after struggling with drugs. His death was due to a mix of champagne and heroin, according to the official coroner’s report. He also struggled with the limelight, but didn’t show it, Ryan said.

“I think that’s why everybody loved him,” he added. “He was the most kind, the most generous — never a bad word for anybody.”

Cory’s Tribute Episode Will Show ‘What Really Happened’

“What you will see in the episode is what really happened,” Ryan said about the emotional episode. “Brad [Falchuk] and Ian [Brennan] and I wrote that episode and Brad directed it, and those performances that you’ll see — almost everything in that episode — is from the first take of every performance because the actors and the crew had a really hard time shooting it.”

Ryan added that along with the cast, the crew was actually extremely upset, making it really hard to finish.

“I’ve never seen a crew that you can’t continue shooting because they’ve left the room sobbing,” he explained. “It was very hard. I struggled even working on it because what you’re seeing is what they felt not just about Finn but Cory.”

Ryan added that there’s “no right way” to film an episode with that much emotion, but “a lot of love” went into it, resulting in “amazing performances.”

“It was very rough with Lea [Michele],” Ryan explained — which is completely understandable. “I’m very proud of it. I think the performances are quite stunning. It was tricky. You had to have a hard eye when you were putting it together. People still are not over it and it’s still very difficult.”

Watch the emotional clip below for “The Quarterback” below, then tune in to the episode on Fox on Oct. 10.